From November 26–28, 2024, STEM Synergy participated in the Continental STEM Conference, co-organized by UNESCO and the African Union at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference gathered a diverse group of stakeholders to explore the transformative role of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in advancing Africa’s sustainable development.
This three-day event created a space for people to meet, work together, and build strategic partnerships aimed at scaling impactful STEM education programs across the continent. In line with the African Union’s 2024 theme, “Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century,” the conference focused on building a continent-wide strategic partnership to develop a transformative STEM ecosystem. Particular emphasis was placed on promoting gender equality in STEM access and representation, ensuring that Africa becomes a competitive and equal player in global STEM education, innovation, entrepreneurship, and engineering.
The conference also inspired cross-border collaborations designed to replicate and adapt successful STEM initiatives to meet region-specific challenges and opportunities. It also aimed to find out the main problems that make STEM education, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship difficult in Africa, and to come up with good solutions to solve these problems and help the continent reach its full potential.
For STEM Synergy, the conference was very helpful. The organization established valuable connections with key regional and international stakeholders, arranging the groundwork for future collaborative projects. STEM Synergy also gained insights into best practices and innovative approaches to STEM education being implemented across the continent.
